Presser lifter actuating mechanism for sewing machines



A. N. HALE ET AL Jan. 5, 1954 PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FORSEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l v IN VEN TOR.Avthur N.HaLe

By Edward L. Koenig Wi/l liam JFdwaz/ds WITNESS ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 A.N. HALE ET AL PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINESFiled Feb. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Avzfhzur N. Hale ByEdward 1,.K0'enig VWTNESS William I Edwards ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 A, N.HALE ET AL PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES FiledFeb. 27. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Amh/unfl N. Hale Edward L.Knenig William Ifdwards ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1954 Arthur .N. Hale,Stratford, Edward L. Koenig, 'Wes'tport, and William J,Edwards,'Stratford, Conn, ass'ignors to The Singer ManufacturingCompany, Elizabeth, N. J acorporation "of New JerseyApplication'February 27, 1952, Serial No. 273,802

Claims.

The present invention relates tov sewing machines and particularly to aknee operated device for raising and lowering the presser mechanism, orwhat is commonly referred to as a knee-shift. The present invention hasfor an object to provide such a device that is constructed of simplemechanical :expedients which are inexpensive to manufacture and yetdurable and dependable in operation, and which can be readily adjustedto fit various types of sewing machines.

Having in mind these and other objects that will be evident from anunderstanding :of this disclosure, a presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention is hereinafter set forth in such detail as toenable thoseskilled in the art to readily understand the function, operation,construction and advantages of it, when read incon-junc- Fig. 3 is abottom plan View onan enlarged scale of the knee-shift device per sewhich is included in Figs. 1 and 2.-

Fig; 4 is a section view on a larger scale taken substantiallyalongtheline 4-4 of Figs. :3, with parts broken away.

In the drawings, the knee-shift device that has 1 been selected forpurposes of illustrating the present invention is generally indicated ati and is secured to the under side of a table2 upon which is mounted asewing machine 3. The machine 3 is substantially thesame as thatdisclosed and claimed in the copending application oi Hale, Serial No.226,082,.filed May 12, 1951,

and since the particular machine does ,not constitutea critical elementof the invention, it is not deemed necessary to expand this disclosurein relation thereto. It is sufficient for purposes of the presentdisclosure to point out that the machine-3 includes a bed 4, anupstanding standard-5 and an overhanging bracket arm 6 terminating in ahead 1. J ournaled for vertical reciprocation in suitable bearings inthe head 1 is the usual presser-bar '8, spring biased downwardly andcarrying a presser-foot ii at its lower end. A collar ii) is fixed tothe presser-bar B and includes a rearwardly extending lug ll that isadaptedtoibe engaged and raisedeither by hand by the cam surface of aconventional hand-lever l2 or by a knee-operated mechanism including anarm [3 secured to one end of a rock-shaft 5 4' suitably journaledlongitudinally of the bracketarm '6'. At its end opposite the arm I 3,the shaft H has secured thereto a rearwardly extending actuating lever15. .A spring is acting between the lever 15 and the bracket-arm 3normally urges the lever I5- upwardly and maintains the arm l3 .inengagement with a stop pinl'l. A chain 18 is connectedto the free end ofthe lever I5 for actuating the same. Thus it will be seen that, as thechain is pulled downwardly, the presser is liftedfrom operativeposition, and as the tension on the chain isrelaxed, the presserfootwill return to its normal position under spring pressure.

The knee-operated mechanism for pulling the chain I8 downwardlygenerally designated at l, comprises an L-shaped baseplate It providedwith elongated apertures 20 which are adapted .to receive screws -2|that secure the base plate to the under .side of the table 2. Theelongated apertures provide limited lateral adjustment of the base,plate relative to the table 2 and consequently to the machine 3. Anaperture 2?. is punched in the one leg ofvthe L-shaped base plate I9,which aperture is so formed as to leave three ears'23, 24 and 25 whichare subsequently bent into planes at right angles to the base plate, asshown in the drawings. Thus the ears '23, 24 and 25 are, in effect,struck up from the base plate l9. 'Theears 23 and 24 are directlyopposed to each other and have bushings 26 secured in suitableaperturestherein to provide spaced bearings. A-yoke member 2"! ispivoted to the base plate 19 by means of a pivot bolt 28 that passesthrough suitable apertures formed in legs 29 and 30 oftheyoke andthroughthe bushings '26. The

'p'i-vot bolt 28 may be secured in any suitable manner such as havingone end headed and the other end 'upset. Fitted in an aperture 3i whichis drilled preferably horizontally in the yoke 2'! is one end of a rod32 that is secured in the desired That portion of the rod 32 that isfitted in the yoke 21 is formed at almost a right angle to the remainderthereof which thus'lies in substantially a vertical plane when in normaloperating position, and which carries a conventional knee-pad 34 securedto the rod 32 in vertically adjusted position by a setsc'rew'35. The leg'3fl of the yoke member is elongated to form a laterally extending leverscincluding a reduced end portion 3'! terminating in aball3'8.Pivotalmovem'ent"oftheyoke ZlabOut the pivo'tbolt 28"is limitedin theone direction by a raised flat 39 formed on'the lever 36 thatcontactsthe base plate l9 ,:'and in the other direction by an adjustablestop member 48,- U-shaped :in cross-section, that is secured to the car25 in vertically adjusted position by a screw 4| fitted in an elongatedslot 42 in the stop-member 40 and a tapped hole in the ear 25, whichstopmember 40 is adapted to abut against the body portion of the yoke21.

Punched or struck down from the base plate i9 and depending therefromare two spaced apart cars 43 having bushings .4 fitted in suitableapertures therein to form spaced apart, aligned bearings for arock-shaft 55. It will be noted that the shaft 45 extends substantiallyparallel to the pivot bolt 28 and, thus, at a right angle to lever 36 ofthe yoke 21. There is provided a partially cylindrical socket member Mhaving a transverse shaft receiving bore drilled through one end thereofthat slidably receives the shaft 45. The socket member is adjustablysecured to the shaft 45 by a set screw 41. One end of the socket member45 is provided with a hole or socket d8 that slidably receives the ballend 38 of the arm 38. Surrounding the shaft 45 is a spring 49, one endof which engages one of the bearing ears 43 and the other end of whichis fitted into an aperture 50 in the socket member 45 to bias the partsinto their neutral position as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings.The shaft 45 is provided at one end with a laterally extending arm 5! i.e. oblique or angularly offset with respect to the longitudinal axis ofthe shaft and having an aperture or eye 52 formed therein to receive theend connecting link of the chain IS.

with reference to Fig. 1 it will be obvious that as an operator placesher knee against the kneepad 3d and presses it and the rod 32 in thedirection of the arrow A, the yoke 21 pivots in a counterclockwisemanner about the pivot bolt 28, which depresses the ball end 38 of thelever 36 and consequently the socket end of the member as is depressedin a clockwise manner about the axis of the shaft is, rotating the shaft45 and carrying downwardly the arm 5! connected to the chain l8, thuspulling on the chain and elevating the presser mechanism. When theoperator relaxes the pressure on the knee-pad 34, the elements arereturned to their neutral position by the spring 49.

An important feature of the present invention is that although there hasbeen provided extremely simple and direct mechanical connections betweenthe elements which provide a rugged and durable construction and permitinexpensive manufacture of the parts and easy assembly thereof, thecomplete structure is still fully adjustable so that the device may beadapted to use with a great variety of machines. Thus, upon looseningthe set screw 41, the shaft 65 and consequently the eye 52 can beshifted to adapt the mechanism for use, with a machine of different sizethan the one shown. The parts are then looked in their adjusted positionsolely by tightening the screw 41.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understoodthat the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of ourinvention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to beconstrued as a limitation thereof. All such modifications which do notdepart from the spirit of this invention are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what we claim hereinis:

1. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a base plate, apair of opposed apertured ears struck from said base plate, a pivot boltjournaled in said apertured ears, a rod pivoted to said base plate bysaid pivot bolt, a lever rigidly associated with said rod to be movedthereby upon movement of said rod about said pivot bolt, a second pairof opposed apertured ears struck from said base and providing spacedbearings, a rock-shaft rotatably and slidably journaled in said secondpair of apertured ears substantially parallel to said pivot bolt, an armcarried by said shaft and adapted to be operatively associated with thepresser bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering thesame upon oscillation of said shaft, a member projecting substantiallyperpendicular from said shaft and releasably fixed thereto in adjustedposition longitudinally thereof, and a ball and socket joint betweensaid lever and said member.

2. A knee-shift device for a sewing machineas set forth in claim 1wherein said ball and socket joint comprises a socket member having ashaft receiving bore transversely thereof at one end and a socket formedlongitudinally thereof at the other end, a ball fixed to the free end ofsaid lever, and being fitted into said socket, said shaft beingrotatably and slidably fitted into the shaft receiving bore, and a setscrew for locking said socket member to said shaft.

3. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a rod adapted tobe pivotally carried by a sewing machine support, a shaft adapted to berotatably carried by said sewing machine support on an axissubstantially parallel to the pivotal axis of said rod, a laterallyprojecting arm on said shaft adapted to be operatively associated with apresser-bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering thesame upon oscillation of said shaft, and operative connections betweensaid rod and said shaft for oscillating said shaft upon pivotal movementof said rod, said operative connections including a joint comprising aninterrelated ball and socket, one of which is carried by said rod andthe other of which is carried by said shaft.

4. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a base-plate, arod pivotally carried by said base-plate, a lever rigidly associatedwith said rod to be moved thereby upon movement of said rod about itspivot, a shaft rotatably carried by said base plate and including an armcarried by said shaft and adapted to be operatively associated with thepresser bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering thesame upon oscillation of said shaft, and operative connections includinga ball and socket joint between said lever and said shaft foroscillating the shaft upon movement of said lever.

5. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine as set forth in claim 4wherein said ball and socket joint include an interrelated ball andsocket, one of which is secured upon the end of said lever and one ofwhich is releasably secured upon said shaft in adjusted positionlongitudinal- 1y of said shaft.

ARTHUR N. HALE. EDWARD L. KOENIG. WILLIAM J. EDWARDS.

Name Date Merritt Apr. 6, 1915 Number

